7 Video Game Villains You Didn't Realise Actually Won

2. The Joker - Arkham Knight

Arkham Knight's ending is weird. After having his identity revealed to the world, Bruce Wayne fakes his own death by blowing up Wayne Manor (with him inside) on national TV, leaving the streets in the safe hands of the soon-to-be mayor, Jim Gordon.

This is of course a victory, as Bruce can go off to live a life away from the limelight and his crime-fighting alter-ego, having finally achieved a sense of peace and trust in the official government channels. That said, though Bruce is gone, the spectre of Batman lives on, and criminals are kept scared by the illusion of a Batman - more terrifying than ever - who still appears to be on the prowl thanks to the Scarecrow's fear toxin.

Wait, what?

It's ambiguous, but the ending indicates that either somebody has taken on Batman's mantle and adopted the toxin into their arsenal, or Gordon has been happily pumping it into the streets to keep criminals scared. This isn't exactly "peace", then, as it either suggests that Batman has begun using a weapon he knows the deadly effects of, or that Gotham's stability is maintained through fear, meaning Bruce changed absolutely nothing during his time as The Dark Knight.